Atlantis Legacy:The Ayn Rand Institute’sPlanned Giving Program

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FIGHTING FOR CIVILIZATION

FIGHTING FOR CIVILIZATION: Advancing the awareness of Ayn Rand's work and ideas is of course uplifting. But make no mistake, this is a war in which civilization itself hangs in the balance. We could easily lose this war to virulent philosophies that embrace death, leaving a bleak future of staggering human suffering, a world in which life itself has no value but as a bloody sacrifice upon the altar of altruism. I meet the enemies of reason with hate in my heart, for they wish nothing less than to deny me the ultimate value: life. Fighting to help people in the future realize the benefits of reason strikes a blow at the roots of the malevolent vine. But ammunition, especially the ammunition of ideas, costs money. I consider the cost of the ammunition that the Ayn Rand Institute loads into the breach to be a bargain. I'm honored to help ARI lead us in this battle for the nobility of man — now, and in the future.

Terry Goodkind, author
Boulder City, Nevada

I donate to ARI because it is both acting as Central Command and serving on the frontlines of the most important battle in history — the battle of ideas. The work it is doing to transform our culture is a higher priority than any short-term activism being done by other organizations. The battle will last for many years, therefore both immediate and future donations are crucial.

Dave Drumm, investor
Orlando, Florida

September 11 brought us a vivid instance of the destructive combination of blind faith and brute force. More sharply than ever, world events emphasize the crucial value of supporting the Ayn Rand Institute. ARI provides intellectual, philosophically based, leadership as ammunition for "fighting back." The most efficient way to spread Objectivism-both now and in the future-is to "employ" the Institute, in the sense of a happy division of labor. My annual contributions during my life, and my bequest after my lifetime, will help achieve the goal of human freedom.

When I graduated from college in the early '60s, I had no explicit philosophy. I was very cynical, and in despair over pathetic conservative attempts to combat the welfare state. When I read Atlas Shrugged and started to attend lectures, Ayn Rand's assertion that ideas do matter and do influence the course of history hit me like a thunderbolt.

To combat the mystic-altruist-collectivist traditions of 2000-plus years, an educational organization like ARI is a necessity. Its mission is to advance Objectivism through re-education, primarily in universities but in lower grades as well. Some progress has already been made, but the philosophical struggle to defend the U.S.A. and western civilization has a long way to go.

Ayn Rand said, "My personal life is a postscript to my novels; it consists of the sentence: 'And I mean it.'" My wife Maralyn and I have named ARI as a primary beneficiary of our estate. Through this action, we are saying "Thank you, Ayn Rand — and we mean it."

Why should we care what will happen to this country and the world after we are gone? If our Founding Fathers would not have cared, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the United States of America would not exist. Now that this country is facing its greatest peril from an orgy of irrationality, we consider the Ayn Rand Institute's continuing efforts, to change the destructive course of this country, of utmost importance. That is why we care, and that is why we made the Ayn Rand Institute the sole beneficiary of our estate.

Bequeathing money to the Ayn Rand Institute is the most efficacious method for continuing the struggle to achieve Ayn Rand's heroic vision.

It is important to me today to know that after I am gone, my work and effort will continue to fight for a world where the men of reason can live in freedom and prosperity. Where men such as Howard Roark, Hank Rearden, and John Galt are possible. Where men such as Aristotle, Leonardo, Newton, and Edison can live again. I want the type of world that such men require to be realized. If it takes twenty years or two hundred years, that's the fight I want to make. The Ayn Rand Institute makes this fight possible-both today and into the future.

Kirk Byers, businessmanSan Francisco, California

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